In addition to my international travels, I am trying to get to know more and more of my country of adoption, Switzerland. The omnipresent mountains give it a three-dimensionality and beauty that is hard to match.

Switzerland is also a country of amazing diversity that is culturally very enriching, not only with its German, French, Italian and Romanch national components, but also with people from around the world. I was amazed to learn that it is the second country of Europe for its level of immigration (after Luxembourg), well ahead of many countries where this has become a political issue. 23% of the people living in Switzerland were born somewhere else, and half of the foreigners in Switzerland are second generation immigrants born here. Assimilation has in general worked well. Geneva is really an international city, and its population has been about 30% immigrants for four hundred years. My own commune of Vernier is about half foreigners, another quarter Swiss from other cantons, and only a quarter Genevois. You can literally feel the diversity during the European football cup. When the Portuguese make a goal, a roar rises in my neighborhood and flags appear; then an Italian goal brings another roar, etc. It is easy to feel at home here.

With its quais lining the end of Lake Geneva (Lac Leman), with the Alps and Jura mountains as a backdrop, Geneva is a beautiful city, rated at the top of world cities for its quality of life.

With my work with the United Nations and the international community, it is the perfect place to be.

The Jet d'Eau in the lake has become a symbol of Geneva.

The Palais des Nations, built to be the seat of the League of Nations, helps make Geneva the most important world centre for intergovernmental conferences.

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Palais from Place des Nations                                  Place des Nations

   
Palais des Nations facade towards the lake

The Palais is set in beautiful gardens overlooking the lake and the Alps. On a clear day you can see Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in Europe, in the distance.

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The Council Chamber is used for the most important diplomatic events. All the walls and even the ceiling are covered by murals symbolic of the roles of international diplomacy.

Geneva is dominated on the south-east by Mount Saleve, a favourite place for day outings. There is a telepherique (cable way) to the summit, with spectacular views over Geneva and its lake, and the Alps.

. telepherique

Views of Geneva and the lake are spectacular
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View southwest                                                       View northeast

golf course

The lake empties into the Rhone River which flows through France to the Mediterranean. The dam at Verbois is an important source of hydroelectricity for Geneva, which obtains 86% of its electricity from renewable sources. The river is also used to bring wastes to the big incinerator where it is burned to the highest environmental standards to produce electricity. At the same time, the natural ecology of the river is respected and habitats for wildlife are being restored. Fish are able to migrate up a fish ladder around the dam.
   

Natural habitats like reed beds are being restored along the shores to provide nesting places for birds. Rafts have been added to give the sterns a safe place to nest away from predators. Shallow basins have been added to provide a haven for fish when the dam below has to be emptied of its accumulated sediment.

The waste incinerator is just above the dam


   
Verbois Dam and hydroelectric plant                                       Fish ladder below the dam

The electric utility is developing solar power. Renewable energy sources provide 86% of the canton's electricity.
   

The Chateau de Bossey in the countryside north of Geneva above the lake is now an Ecumenical Centre belonging to the World Council of Churches and the University of Geneva. The courses in Environmental Diplomacy that I coordinate are held in this beautiful setting.

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Environmental Diplomacy course 2009
   

The Chateau is set in beautiful gardens with a view over the lake to the Alps beyond, including Mont Blanc

  view in different light

August 1 is the national holiday, commemorating more than 700 years of the Swiss nation. It is a time to listen to speaches, blow alp horns, toss flags, parade with cow bells, light bonfires, and celebrate all things Swiss.

I was invited to the alpine village of Grindelwald to speak at an AIESEC national seminar in June 2006. It was the perfect time of year to appreciate alpine meadows, farms and lakes nestled between the mountain peaks.

At the end of March 2012, AIESEC again invited me to speak at their national conference, this time in Leysin above Aigle, in the Valais, the upper watershed of the Rhone River. From Aigle, a cog railway winds up the steep valley side to the ski resort of Leysin.

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View down to Aigle in the Valais; looking down from the railway carriage on the steep vinyards below